Detection of stx1 and stx2 Genes in Pennsylvanian White-Tailed Deer

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli carrying the stx1 and/or stx2 genes can cause multi-symptomatic illness in humans. A variety of terrestrial and aquatic environmental reservoirs of stx have been described. Culture based detection of microbes in deer species have found a low percentage of samples that have tested positive for Stx-producing microbes, suggesting that while deer may contain these microbes, their overall abundance in deer is low. In this study, quantitative PCR (qPCR) was utilized to test for the presence of stx genes in white-tailed deer fecal matter in western Pennsylvania. In this culture independent screening, nearly half of the samples tested positive for the stx2 gene, with a bias towards samples that were concentrated with stx2. This study, while limited in scope, suggests that deer may be a greater reservoir for stx than was previously thought

Post-imperialism, postcolonialism and beyond: towards a periodisation of cultural discourse about colonial legacies

Taking German history and culture as a starting point, this essay suggests a historical approach to reconceptualising different forms of literary engagement with colonial discourse, colonial legacies and (post-) colonial memory in the context of Comparative Postcolonial Studies. The deliberate blending of a historical, a conceptual and a political understanding of the ‘postcolonial’ in postcolonial scholarship raises problems of periodisation and historical terminology when, for example, anti-colonial discourse from the colonial period or colonialist discourse in Weimar Germany are labelled ‘postcolonial’. The colonial revisionism of Germany’s interwar period is more usefully classed as post-imperial, as are particular strands of retrospective engagement with colonial history and legacy in British, French and other European literatures and cultures after 1945. At the same time, some recent developments in Francophone, Anglophone and German literature, e.g. Afropolitan writing, move beyond defining features of postcolonial discourse and raise the question of the post-postcolonial

Experimentelle Kennwertermittlung und Systemanalyse bei Hubschrauber-Gasturbinen

Copy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Congenital toxoplasmosis in Abyssinian cats

Two of three litter-mate kittens born to an Abyssinian cat died of acute toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasma gondii was found in histologic sections of both kittens and this was confirmed by immunoperoxidase staining

Differential brain activation according to chronic social reward frustration

Neural correlates of reward frustration are increasingly studied in humans. In line with prediction error theory, omission of an expected reward is associated with relative decreases of cerebral activation in dopaminergic brain areas. We investigated whether a history of chronic work-related reward frustration influences this reward-dependent activation pattern by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Solving arithmetic tasks was followed by either monetary reward or omission of reward. Hyperactivations in the medial prefrontal, anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were observed in a group of healthy adults with high susceptibility to reward frustration as compared with a group with low susceptibility. Findings indicate a compromised ability of adapting brain activation among those suffering form chronic social reward frustration

Corrigendum to: EXPLOITING THE VERSATILITY OF CHOLESTEROL IN NANOPARTICLES FORMULATION (International Journal of Pharmaceutics (2016) 511 (1) (331-340) (S0378517316306512) (10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.07.022))

The authors regret that Table 1 was incorrect. The correct table is given below. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. DOI of original article: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.07.02

Neuromuscular transmission modulation by adenosine upon aging

© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.In infant rats adenosine A2A receptor-mediated modulation of neuromuscular transmission predominates over A1 receptor-mediated neuromodulation.We investigated whether aging affects this A2A/A1 receptor balance. Evoked (EPPs) and miniature end plate potentials(MEPPs) were recorded from single fibers of (weeks-old) infant (3– 4), young adult (12–16), older (36 –38),and aged (80 –90) male rat-diaphragm. The non A1/A2A selective agonist, 2-chloroadenosine (CADO; 30 nM) and the adenosine kinase inhibitor, iodotubericidin (ITU; 10 M) increased mean amplitude and quantal content of EPPs in infant, young adult, and older adult rats, but not in aged rats. The facilitatory effects were prevented by the A2A receptor antagonist,ZM241385 (50 nM) and mimicked by the A2A receptor agonist,CGS21680 (10 nM). The A1 receptor agonist, 6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA; 100 nM), decreased EPPs amplitude in all age groups. It is concluded that aging differently influences adenosine A1 receptor and A2A receptor-mediated presynaptic modulation of neuromuscular transmission, so that the facilitatory influence decreases upon aging, whereas the inhibitory influence remains unchanged in aged animals. The reduction of adenosine A2A receptors upon aging may contribute to the age-related changes in neuromuscular function.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal and European Union (Grant NEREPLAS, COST B30)